The question of whether illegal gambling can be stopped has once again been raised, this time by the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) following an investigation in Lithuania.
The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) has highlighted the significance of the payments industry to the illegal gambling markets following an investigation in Lithuania.
A former complaint has been filed with the Bank of Lithuania after the EGBA alleged that a local licensed payments provider, Walletto, has facilitated transactions to illegal online gambling operators.
The following hasn’t been officially confirmed, but the complaint to EGBA could’ve been made by either Betsson or Entain, two licensed operators in the Lithuanian betting market which are also members of the international industry trade body.
“Illegal gambling operators cannot operate at scale without access to payments – they depend on the same mainstream payment methods and card networks consumers use every day,” the EGBA stated.
“As long as illegal operators can accept deposits and process transactions, they will continue to function outside legally compliant licensing regimes in the EU, evade regulatory controls, and expose consumers to harm.”
Current EGBA estimates put the value of the illegal gambling market in Europe at around €18bn, or 27% of the total domestic online gambling market share.
Licensed operators have only increased their collaboration with national gambling regulators and other European businesses to try and ringfence their respective jurisdictions from black market actors as much as they can over the last few years.
However, the issue of how easy it is to make payments to illegal platforms still comes up time and time again. In light of the most recent case, EGBA is now calling for stricter EU-wide regulations around financial service providers and their interaction, accidental or not, with illegal gambling websites.
Maarten Haijer, Secretary General of EGBA, added: “Payment providers should not be allowed to process transactions for illegal gambling operators. Illegal operators flourish by exploiting legitimate financial channels and the mainstream payment networks that consumers rely on every day.
“Our aim is simple: to leave them no room to manoeuvre, and to cut off the payment channels they use to reach European consumers. Card schemes also have a crucial role to play in combatting illegal transactions: they are better placed than anyone, as they set the rules for these payment networks and see transaction flows no one else can.”
